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Saturday, December 28, 2013

Who Am I?

Psalm 103:1-2 (NLT)

Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my
whole heart, I will praise his holy name.Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he
does for me.

I found
a note on a small scrap of paper that said ‘all that I am, not all that I do’.I jot these notes when something speaks to me
– a discussion, author, sermon, song, or scripture.I don’t remember when or why I saved this
thought, but the day after I discovered it Biblegateway sent this prayer of
David.Hmm.

Paraphrase: Let
everything about me point to God.Everything.

My
house pulses with football this time of year.While being a fan of a particular player doesn’t come close to having a
relationship with God, let’s use the example.

If I’m
a huge Peyton Manning fan, I learn everything I can about him:his hometown and family life, his development
from Pop Warner through college, personal influences and inspiration, all his accomplishments and stats and
news from his personal life.I follow
him on Twitter and listen to all his press conferences and interviews.And that’s just the research side of being
his fan.Of course I would wear Manning
gear and enthusiastically promote and defend him in conversation using all my
supporting facts.

Being a
fan of Peyton is not a chore and it doesn’t take effort.It’s not something I work at.I am tuned in to absorb everything I can about
him.It is my passion.It's who I am.

Now look
back at David’s psalm and ask yourself:Is praising God something I do?Or is praising God who I am?